By good fortune the second serious film viewed in this first week of wall to wall films is Nine a musical take on the important Frederico Fellini film 8 ½ (it has taken me half an hour to work out how to type fractions on the keyboard).
I remind that in 1963 Frederico created what many regard his most important work illustrating the impact of childhood and adolescent experience on adult behaviour, reflecting issues in Italian society in the early 1960’s, particularly the role of Catholic guilt in post war never it so good start of the Dolce Vita swinging sixties. The framework film is that of a Film Director Guido Contini, who appears to have done his best work in the past, but has a new funded commission, crew, actors and set ready but no script.
He runs off to a spa town to get fit and find inspiration and arranges for his long standing mistress to attend him banishing her to a basic small hotel by the railway station out of sight of the crew who arrive at the main hotel, as does his wife during the course the movie.
From childhood there is the influence of church, their attitude to women and the use of corporal punishment. There is also an encounter with a prostitute and a Freudian spin on the relationship between mother and son. When his mistress and his wife come directly into contact, Fellini’s hero, himself, played by the International heartthrob of the day Marcello Mastroianni, fantasises about having a harem of all his women attending to his needs, banishing them to the upper floors of the dwelling where they all live when they reach the age of 26 to make way for new younger ones. During this prolonged sequence he uses a whip, and his dominant with subjects role playing is highlighted early on when he requires his willing mistress to play a tart who enters his hotel room by mistake and stays to give him pleasures. He surrounds himself with beautiful women from his past and his present, but as he confronts his previous life and behaviour in search of something to say in his new film he rejects one new sexual opportunity, realising its lack of meaning to me and underlining the hurt he causes by continuous failure to appreciate the impact of his behaviour on his conquests, particularly his wife and long standing mistress, the former reaches braking point but returns after he makes an effort as the film comes to its conclusion.
The film also cover his ambivalence with the media, the asking of inane questions when he attempts to be serious and the asking of serious questions at inappropriate moments for him, usually in Fellini Films by an English speaking guest, one visitor asks for his views on Catholicism and Communism, another wants to know if he likes pasta. The women are played by Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee and other international stars of the era.
The film was acclaimed primarily because of the cinema photography is strong black and white combining fantasy, dreams and reality in such a way that it is not evident what is what. The films was approved by the Vatican for its apparent denouncement of life without a religious and moral structure and its search for such values as well as the returning to his long standing marriage and rejection of causal sex.
Given the position of the original work in the hierarchy of films and which had profound impact on the art form, it was a brave venture to attempt to recreate the work not on film but as a stage musical in 1982 about which I know nothing, other than what I have now read.
It was made into a film production that is a film of a musical of a film in 2008 2009. The original title 8 ½ was based on Fellini have completed 7 ½ films beforehand or it may have been 8 ½ , so Nine is used to show a relationship but also the difference.
My art work was called 101 after visiting thee Saatchi 100 exhibition off British Art in 2003 and then amended to 100.75 to indicate a work still in progress and that the life of my birth mother end when she was 100 years and three quarters so as a concept Nine is appreciated..
Daniel Day Lewis is admirable as the principal character, a more thoughtful and less playful performance than that of Marcello forty years earlier. The women in the film are also extraordinary with Marion Collard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman and Sophie Lauren. Sophie Loren plays his beloved mother and Judy Dench his costume designer with Fergie the prostitute from his childhood. Having grown used to seeing Dame Judy Dench in the Bond Films as M it was startling to see her performances as a former Folies Bergére dancer in which she learnt about costumes (I have been to the Folies in the 1970’s) and which has Guido Contini (the Director in both original film and recreated film experiencing as a boy on stage with the dancers while Judith sings.
In both productions the mistress (Penelope Cruz) takes an overdose although insufficient to do serious self harm and her and Guido’s behaviour brings rebuke from the doctor and when the loyal husband comes to take her home and Guido expresses gratitude for his action he simply reminds, I am her husband, communicating as he does the depth and complexity of some relationships and that marital love can transcend individual sexual acts and infatuations with others. It can also destroy as it does in his situation.
There is also an important exchange between Guido and the star of new film (Nicole Kidman) someone with whom he has worked before. She like Guido is having major doubts about her role in life believing that she is only seen by him and the public as the actress on the screen. She discloses that she has been in love with him but he is not with her. She admits he only sees her as a creation for the masses as leaves the picture within a picture. I felt that the use of musical number helped to achieve the merging of reality with dream and fantasy throughout the film although the attempt to marry a serious psychological and philosophical work into a mainstream musical did not. However I give full marks for a brave attempt and something unique. The film includes 18 performed on screen songs which takes about half the 118 film length. Another dozen songs from the original stage production are excluded in order to provide cinematic experiences of depth as well as communicating insight into a more contemporary Italian culture.
In Nine more attention is given to the break up and reconciliation with his wife and between his childhood Catholicism, the catholic guilt and moral structure of the church. In both productions a Cardinal and his entourage are staying at the hotel and Guido uses the opportunity to seek advice. The Cardinale tells Guido to lead a moral life and to look back to his Catholic education for inspiration. This prompts Guido to remember his experience with the prostitute!
In the original film Guido realises that he cannot make the film as he attends a media conference at the set designed to look like the launching of a space rocket full size. There are elements of this structure throughout the Nine in terms of basic set which possibly was also used in the stage production. It is used to great effect in the finale as all the participants are reintroduced to say their farewell, as would be the situation in a stage production before or as part of the final number. In Nine there is a two year transition between the loss of his wife, the acceptance that he has nothing to say leading to the closure of the film within a film, and deciding that the only film he can make is about a man trying to win back his wife, after he sees her with another man. He assembles a cast and a crew and begins to shoot the film with his wife watching pleased that he has found his old self again.
There is much in this film with which I can identify with. I was too young and inexperienced to fully appreciate the original film although as Guido’s wife accuses him he has been a little boy all his life but it is better than he finally learns to grow up, of a fashion for a forty fifty year old, than never to do so, or is it?
I remind that in 1963 Frederico created what many regard his most important work illustrating the impact of childhood and adolescent experience on adult behaviour, reflecting issues in Italian society in the early 1960’s, particularly the role of Catholic guilt in post war never it so good start of the Dolce Vita swinging sixties. The framework film is that of a Film Director Guido Contini, who appears to have done his best work in the past, but has a new funded commission, crew, actors and set ready but no script.
He runs off to a spa town to get fit and find inspiration and arranges for his long standing mistress to attend him banishing her to a basic small hotel by the railway station out of sight of the crew who arrive at the main hotel, as does his wife during the course the movie.
From childhood there is the influence of church, their attitude to women and the use of corporal punishment. There is also an encounter with a prostitute and a Freudian spin on the relationship between mother and son. When his mistress and his wife come directly into contact, Fellini’s hero, himself, played by the International heartthrob of the day Marcello Mastroianni, fantasises about having a harem of all his women attending to his needs, banishing them to the upper floors of the dwelling where they all live when they reach the age of 26 to make way for new younger ones. During this prolonged sequence he uses a whip, and his dominant with subjects role playing is highlighted early on when he requires his willing mistress to play a tart who enters his hotel room by mistake and stays to give him pleasures. He surrounds himself with beautiful women from his past and his present, but as he confronts his previous life and behaviour in search of something to say in his new film he rejects one new sexual opportunity, realising its lack of meaning to me and underlining the hurt he causes by continuous failure to appreciate the impact of his behaviour on his conquests, particularly his wife and long standing mistress, the former reaches braking point but returns after he makes an effort as the film comes to its conclusion.
The film also cover his ambivalence with the media, the asking of inane questions when he attempts to be serious and the asking of serious questions at inappropriate moments for him, usually in Fellini Films by an English speaking guest, one visitor asks for his views on Catholicism and Communism, another wants to know if he likes pasta. The women are played by Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee and other international stars of the era.
The film was acclaimed primarily because of the cinema photography is strong black and white combining fantasy, dreams and reality in such a way that it is not evident what is what. The films was approved by the Vatican for its apparent denouncement of life without a religious and moral structure and its search for such values as well as the returning to his long standing marriage and rejection of causal sex.
Given the position of the original work in the hierarchy of films and which had profound impact on the art form, it was a brave venture to attempt to recreate the work not on film but as a stage musical in 1982 about which I know nothing, other than what I have now read.
It was made into a film production that is a film of a musical of a film in 2008 2009. The original title 8 ½ was based on Fellini have completed 7 ½ films beforehand or it may have been 8 ½ , so Nine is used to show a relationship but also the difference.
My art work was called 101 after visiting thee Saatchi 100 exhibition off British Art in 2003 and then amended to 100.75 to indicate a work still in progress and that the life of my birth mother end when she was 100 years and three quarters so as a concept Nine is appreciated..
Daniel Day Lewis is admirable as the principal character, a more thoughtful and less playful performance than that of Marcello forty years earlier. The women in the film are also extraordinary with Marion Collard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman and Sophie Lauren. Sophie Loren plays his beloved mother and Judy Dench his costume designer with Fergie the prostitute from his childhood. Having grown used to seeing Dame Judy Dench in the Bond Films as M it was startling to see her performances as a former Folies Bergére dancer in which she learnt about costumes (I have been to the Folies in the 1970’s) and which has Guido Contini (the Director in both original film and recreated film experiencing as a boy on stage with the dancers while Judith sings.
In both productions the mistress (Penelope Cruz) takes an overdose although insufficient to do serious self harm and her and Guido’s behaviour brings rebuke from the doctor and when the loyal husband comes to take her home and Guido expresses gratitude for his action he simply reminds, I am her husband, communicating as he does the depth and complexity of some relationships and that marital love can transcend individual sexual acts and infatuations with others. It can also destroy as it does in his situation.
There is also an important exchange between Guido and the star of new film (Nicole Kidman) someone with whom he has worked before. She like Guido is having major doubts about her role in life believing that she is only seen by him and the public as the actress on the screen. She discloses that she has been in love with him but he is not with her. She admits he only sees her as a creation for the masses as leaves the picture within a picture. I felt that the use of musical number helped to achieve the merging of reality with dream and fantasy throughout the film although the attempt to marry a serious psychological and philosophical work into a mainstream musical did not. However I give full marks for a brave attempt and something unique. The film includes 18 performed on screen songs which takes about half the 118 film length. Another dozen songs from the original stage production are excluded in order to provide cinematic experiences of depth as well as communicating insight into a more contemporary Italian culture.
In Nine more attention is given to the break up and reconciliation with his wife and between his childhood Catholicism, the catholic guilt and moral structure of the church. In both productions a Cardinal and his entourage are staying at the hotel and Guido uses the opportunity to seek advice. The Cardinale tells Guido to lead a moral life and to look back to his Catholic education for inspiration. This prompts Guido to remember his experience with the prostitute!
In the original film Guido realises that he cannot make the film as he attends a media conference at the set designed to look like the launching of a space rocket full size. There are elements of this structure throughout the Nine in terms of basic set which possibly was also used in the stage production. It is used to great effect in the finale as all the participants are reintroduced to say their farewell, as would be the situation in a stage production before or as part of the final number. In Nine there is a two year transition between the loss of his wife, the acceptance that he has nothing to say leading to the closure of the film within a film, and deciding that the only film he can make is about a man trying to win back his wife, after he sees her with another man. He assembles a cast and a crew and begins to shoot the film with his wife watching pleased that he has found his old self again.
There is much in this film with which I can identify with. I was too young and inexperienced to fully appreciate the original film although as Guido’s wife accuses him he has been a little boy all his life but it is better than he finally learns to grow up, of a fashion for a forty fifty year old, than never to do so, or is it?
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